Parking in Seattle

It makes us so sad when we read articles like “Click! Meter cheaters are busted” [page one, June 21]. It just enforced our feeling that the city of Seattle once again has missed the point.

As a regular volunteer at our child’s school in the city, we often bemoan the fact there is nowhere to park that we aren’t worried about being ticketed, towed or having to pay exorbitant parking rates, such as in the limited private lots. What this means is we now have to limit our volunteerism to one and a half hours, assuming it will take 15 minutes to get to and then return from our destinations.

We’re becoming increasingly unfriendly to the tourists and visitors to our city who will have an even harder time understanding and trying to comply with our Draconian and big-brother-like parking enforcement.

What about doubling the time limit to four hours and then being strict about enforcement? At least then people could reasonably be expected to conclude their business, finish a volunteer opportunity, get a needed medical test and return home without penalty from the city of Seattle.

Parking lots are limited, and our public-transportation system is still being developed. Penalizing the citizens of Seattle and their visitors just seems to be the wrong way to address these issues.

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